APPLESPIEL’S EXECUTIVE STRESS/CORPORATE RETREAT

Applespiel, a collective that took seed at the University of Wollongong’s Creative Arts programs, have been responsible for a mixed bag of predominantly DIY projects to date: pseudo-breakfast radio shows, actors classes, baked goods and paper dioramas. With Corporate Retreat/Executive Stress, they attempt to shake all the trappings off the money tree; the psychometric jargon, the icebreakers, the icky team building exercises. The show/seminar begins with us being herded out into the cold to be asked some seemingly irrelevant questions, such as, “Do you come from a family of three or more?” before we head back inside and the poor buggars who signed up for the Elite Program are forced to take part in a series of challenges, with their names projected onto a dubious overhead points-ranking system. They channel their best and worst animal, identify the job interview no-nos, and attempt to glean some important lessons from group script readings. The members of Applespiel operate as suited sentinels, randomly rewarding points, chastising for poor answers. All-in-all, if you’ve ever hot-desked it in a bureaucracy or jumped HR hoops for a job, it’s a little too frighteningly close to the bone. Is it stranger because it has been transplanted to a stage, and foisted upon a niche circle of artsy types? Not really – the reality is scary enough.

Until May 15, in a double-bill with Nat Randall’s Cheer Up Kid, PACT Theatre, 107 Railway Pde, Erskineville, $15 single, $25 double, greentix.com.au